Preview

The Pros And Cons Of Intersex Surgery

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
548 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Pros And Cons Of Intersex Surgery
There are many healthy children who are born daily. Unfortunately, there are also some children who are born with disorders, such as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) or Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS). CAH is a disorder when a child has the inability to produce cortisol and aldosterone, overproduction of testosterone, and possibly end up having both genitals (male and female). AIS is when a person develops female physical traits, but instead of developing a uterus they develop testes. A common result to a situation where the newborn is born with both genitalia is to perform a surgical procedure to make a child fall into the category of a male or female, which is what our society is considered “normal.” To “normalize” this situation, the infants undergo surgery. Although this procedure is very common, I do not think having the intersex surgery at birth is a logical decision for these conditions because it could affect the child physically and mentally …show more content…
The intersex surgery is not just one surgery procedure, it contains constant maintenance, which causes the child to have multiple surgery procedures throughout their life. According to Ms. Karkazis, someone who interviewed parents, doctors, and people who had the surgery when they were infants, “…they were unhappy with the results and complained of lack of sensation or pain, of the need for repeated surgeries and of the fact that they had thick scarring and the genitals never looked 'normal'” (Navarro, 2004). What parents do not really think about are the future problems that’s intersex surgery may cause in during the kid’s adolescence. They try to “normalize” their genitals to either look like a male or female but it will not look like that even with surgery due to the fact the process of surgery leaves

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    A 22 year old married female comes to endocrinologist for evaluation, she want to have kids but has not attained her menarche (primary amenorrhea). She also noticed a mass in the right groin (undescended testis), not associated with pain. No c/o vomiting, abdominal pain or any other associated complication. She also have frequent back pain and knee joint pains (osteoporosis).…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1965, David Reimer, an 8-month-old Canadian twin brother to Brian Reimer, was a victim of unethical psychiatric practices that lead us to understand Nature Vs. Nurture, and how both aid in the development of adulthood. Dr. John Money was first introduced to David, when physicians used an electro cautery needle instead of standard scalpel, which lead to the burning off of his reproductive organ. According to Intersex Society of North America “David’s parents agreed to have him “sex reassigned” and made into a girl via surgical, hormonal, and psychological treatments—i.e., via the system Money advocated for intersex children.” This approach has then provided the perspective in which modern countries use to assume that gender identity is…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Storm Stocker Case

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Kennedy, Natacha, and Mark Hellen. "Transgender children: more than a theoretical challenge." Graduate Journal of Social Science 7 (2010): 25-42. Print.…

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Is Reimer's Story?

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Since then, Reimer’s story has been shared with thousands of researchers throughout the years. The information gathered from his lifetime has been used to advance the modern medical field. Specifically, the lessons learned from Reimer’s case can and should be considered when doctors and parents face similar situations in which infants are born with ambiguous gentiles. As exemplified by Reimer’s traumatic childhood and his difficult time growing up, sex reassignment surgery has not proven to alleviate the problems of people with ambiguous gentiles. Instead, sex reassignment surgery for infants causes more problems throughout their developing lifespan. This seems to be true for not only the individual personally, but the negative consequences…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A person’s sex is determined by their physical aspects, whether they have a penis or a vagina, and by their chromosomes which they have at birth (Soc 1001 Lecture 22, The Social Construction of Gender). Sometimes, though, people may fall outside of the two “main” sexes and be born as an intersex person, then given the choice to identify as male, female or neither (Psy 3666 Human Sexuality Lecture 10, Sex Education and Sexual Orientation), but are typically assigned a sex at birth via surgery and/or hormonal intervention (Soc 1001 Lecture 22, The Social Construction of Gender). Not only do intersex individuals have the choice to identify themselves as they please, everyone has a choice as to what they want to be identified as no matter if a surgery had taken place or…

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the end a persons hormones bring out a person’s gender so waiting will cause more success instead of rushing children into transition because of gender roles and…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When infants are born, the first words uttered from the doctor is the sex of the child. As soon as the sex is announced, the baby is already perceived a certain way. By categorizing human beings into two different genders, male or female, you are limiting these people by gender roles and societal expectations. When doing this it causes harm to anyone who strays from their gender or sex assigned at birth. A term to describe these people is transgender. A transgender person is someone whose identity is not the same as their gender assigned at birth. Many other identifying people fall under this category.It is time to deconstruct society's views on gender and provide necessary rights to transgender individuals. Transgender people not being accepted into society is a significant problem in contemporary culture that challenges the traditional norms of the gender binary.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Psy/311 Week 1 Reflection

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I never really thought about gender besides that we are born either a man or woman. I’ve worked with transgender individuals before and I didn’t think much about it except that they are who they want to be. The main thing I learned from that lesson is the dangers in how you handle gender with your children. In the McGraw-Hill site, we learned about a child named Storm and how his parents are raising him genderless. I talked about this in the discussion on what did we think, but it is just something that has stuck with me. The American Psychological Association’s Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Office stated that there is no research available that says weather being raised a “genderless child” is harmful or not. To me, that just means that what they are doing is an experiment that can go horribly wrong just because their oldest is a transgendered child. I will use this information in my family life, if we decided to have children I plan on not overemphasizing gender. I think that will just confuse them if they do not know their gender. If they decide later to change who they are, we will accept that and love them for…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dhejne, C., Lichtenstein, P., Boman, M., Johansson, A. V., Långström, N., & Landén, M. (2011). Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden. Plos ONE, 6(2),…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During last century, our society has changed a lot in terms of accepting minorities LGBTQ, despite there are still people who do not accept them. One of these minorities who had suffered more are the transgender people. They had to change their genders, usually late in life and hiding from the rest of the society. They had to live the entire life being someone who do not fit with their minds and personality. For this reason, Transgender kids should be allowed to start cross-sex hormones before puberty, because it facilitates their lives and it does not carry any further complication later, and they will not have problems during the complex period of adolescence.…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mothers could take vitamins but this was never a guarantee of the child’s gender. Now with designer babies, this is a realistic opportunity for parents. Technology has skyrocketed since the 90’s and now performing vitro fertilization (procedure used to choose the conception of a child) there is almost a 100% chance of successfully choosing the sex of a child. This has become very controversial to society but that isn’t slowing it down at all. "From my own personal perspective, I don't think there's anything unethical about any of it, however it's ethically controversial" (Dr. Mark Sauer.) Celebrities are even starting to have designer babies and choosing whether they have a girl of…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When one is approached on the topic of gender identity, it may take their mind into a million places, but with scientific study the answers come with complicated return. This is all very new and continually will be close study. In 1940, the only way to give gender identity to the baby was during delivery and whether they had a penis or vagina, the other births were thought of as birth defects. That was just 70 years ago! Granted we come along way, but still have a long way to go.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coming out for Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals as well as Trans genders is hard. “Hence, outwardly gender-conforming transgender individual usually proceed through the development stages of coming out later in life, often following a long period of pre-coming when years of hiding their cross-gender feelings take a different kind of toll (Etther)”. Gender reassignment is term that used for sex change for transgender. “Gender reassignment (which includes psychotherapy, hormonal therapy and surgery) has been demonstrated as the most effective treatment for patients affected by gender dysphoria (or gender identity disorder), in which patients do not recognize their gender (sexual identity) as matching their genetic and sexual characteristics (Gennario Selvaggi)”. Gender reassignment is a produce where the genitals or breast, or face gets removed or changed to fit the proper gender. “Genital procedures performed for gender dysphoria, such as vaginoplasty, clitorolabioplasty, penectomy and orchidectomy in male-to-female transsexuals, and penile and scrotal reconstruction in female-to-male transsexuals, are the core procedures in gender reassignment surgery. Nongenital procedures, such as breast enlargement, mastectomy, facial feminization surgery, voice surgery, and other masculinization and feminization procedures complete the surgical treatment available (Gennario…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Room For Intersexed

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The major strength of this article was the numerous cases of intersexed children, who were…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gender Norms

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In recent new titled, “Kids Who Veer from Gender Norms Are at Higher Risk for Abuse”, the reporter Madison Park has unveiled the story of Mich and her parents. The news which has been published on the CNN site reveals the story of Mich, who was bullied and harassed by friends and family for wanting to look like a male instead of a female. This news story is the example of how someone wanting to be the opposite gender can be disturbing to family and friends. It does not mean they have a mental disorder or want to change their gender they are just not comfortable being a girl or boy as they were born. "A lot of children seem to be experimenting with cross-gender behavior,…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays